North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has warned that waste costs and risks are spiralling, with residents facing a potential £35 million carbon tax bill, a sharp rise in dangerous battery fires as well as more than 200 million nappies and pads binned each year.
In its new Call to Action, NLWA is calling on the Government to address five urgent issues to cut waste, protect residents, and support councils.
The first priority is to protect residents from unfair carbon taxes. Under current proposals, including energy-from-waste in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme could mean that north London boroughs are £35 million a year worse off.
NLWA chair, Cllr Clyde Loakes MBE, said: “It’s the makers of products using unsustainable materials who should pay the carbon taxes, not councils, and certainly not residents. Government must tax the polluter and provide funding to councils so that essential services are not cut.”
A second urgent action is to address the sharp rise in battery fires. Lithium-ion battery incidents at north London waste and recycling facilities more than doubled last year, rising from six in 2023 to 13 in 2024.
Cllr Loakes urged the government to “strengthen producer responsibility so battery manufacturers cover the cost of kerbside collection, fire damage and recycling”.
NLWA is also calling for action on nappies and absorbent hygiene products, which now account for nine per cent of north London’s residual waste, amounting to 35,000 tonnes each year (or more than 200 million items) and costing £3.2 million to dispose of via incineration.
“The government must incentivise producers to make these products more sustainable and ensure that recycling becomes feasible via investment in recycling infrastructure that can handle this type of waste," Cllr Loakes said.
Likewise, with new collection reforms set to increase the volume of recyclables, NLWA warns that without new UK reprocessing plants, materials risk being warehoused, incinerated, put in landfill, or exported to destinations unknown overseas.
Cllr Loakes said: “The UK should be recycling everything here in the UK. That’s why we’re calling on the government to develop a national infrastructure strategy for recycling.”
Finally, NLWA wants the government to envision a bold Circular Economy Strategy to set long-term ambitions beyond 2028, with a clear focus on reduction, reuse and repair.
For more information on NLWA's Call to Action: What central government can do | NLWA
